Bring the Boys Back Home

"Bring the Boys Back Home"
Song by Pink Floyd
from the album The Wall
Published	Pink Floyd Music Publishers Ltd
Released	30 November 1979 (UK) 8 December 1979 (US)
Recorded	April–November 1979
Genre	Military march, symphonic rock
Length	1:21
Label	Harvest (UK) Columbia (US)
Songwriter(s)	Roger Waters
Producer(s)	Bob Ezrin, David Gilmour, James Guthrie and Roger Waters

"Bring the Boys Back Home" is a song from the Pink Floyd album, The Wall. The song was released as a B-side on the single, "Pink Floyd The Wall - Music From The Film".

As the final notes of the previous song "Vera" decay, the listener hears several snare drums articulating a march beat in 4
4 time, fading in like approaching soldiers. The song proves to be polyrhythmic, as this beat continues unchanged while the orchestra, choir, and lead vocals begin in 12
8.

Roger Waters sings the simple and direct lyric in his upper register, stridently, supported by a choir. A IV-V-I chord progression in G major repeats, providing a sense of satisfaction. This is followed by a reversal, from G to D major with F-sharp in the bass, to C major, which features a tritone movement in the bassline, going from F♯ to C, introducing a sense of instability. This progression is a recurring Pink Floyd theme, appearing throughout the album in "Hey You", "Vera", and others, as well as several songs on Waters and company's follow-up concept album on the losses of war, The Final Cut. Waters and choir exhort, "Bring the boys back home / Don't leave the children on their own". On the final iteration, the song climaxes on the relative minor of E minor. The choir abruptly drops away, leaving Waters' voice alone, agonised and struggling to sustain the high note (the first B above middle C). A lone snare drum also remains, continuing its now-threatening march beat, as voices from Pink's past and present mingle while his manager pounds on his hotel-room door.

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